This time the stage is set at historic Fort Monroe and Mill Creek. The main event is a new permanent pier, replacing the current floating pier used by dozens of high school sailors.

Work on the Mill Creek Pier, just behind the Fort Monroe Community Center on Stillwell Road, began in January and has a completion date set for summer, according to city officials.

The city has tapped Portmouth-based Crofton Construction Services Inc. for the construction. Hampton has allocated $415,000 in its current capital improvement plan for the project. The total price tag for construction and materials will be slightly more than $800,000.

The plan calls for a 209-foot by 30-foot floating pier, which connects to a 185-foot by 8-foot fixed pier. The fixed portion will have a 55-foot-long gangway.

Officials at the city’s parks and recreation department say the pier will be an ideal launch for kayaks, canoes, paddleboard, paddle boats, birding paddles, tai-chi paddles and paddleboard yoga.

Aileen Devlin/Daily Press / Daily Press

Construction has begun for the new pier along Mill Creek at Fort Monroe in Hampton on Thursday, April 5, 2018.

Construction has begun for the new pier along Mill Creek at Fort Monroe in Hampton on Thursday, April 5, 2018. (Aileen Devlin/Daily Press / Daily Press)

For sailing enthusiasts, like Kelly Handly, who brimmed with excitement over the city’s project, the new structure is a welcome improvement and a better alternative to the existing makeshift pier.

“I have been waiting four years for this pier,” says Handly, the mother of teen sailors and a board member with Youth Sailing Virginia. “We are like kids in a candy store.”

Youth Sailing Virginia is a nonprofit group that supports hundreds of high school sailing athletes around the Peninsula. The group, which provides about 18 sailboats for local teams to use, hosts regional regattas and competitions that extend to teams as far north as New York. The nonprofit also supports U.S. sailing programs aimed at exposing more students in middle school through high school to the sport.

Handly said while her husband grew up sailing, she didn’t participate in the sport during her youth. Later, when her two sons become involved, her appreciation grew exponentially.

“When we talk about this new pier and floating dock… when that pier is built, it will be a game-changer for us,” she said. “It’s not just to benefit us. The pier also gives us the opportunity to do more.”

The project, the second of two piers coming to Fort Monroe, is part of the Hampton City Council’s ongoing effort to make use of the waterfront, which is an important asset in Hampton, city spokesman Fredrick Gaskins said.

An earlier project, dubbed the “Finger Pier,” is a renovated fishing pier, located on Gulick Drive on the Chesapeake Bay side of the historic former military base. It’s scheduled to open in April, authority officials said. The Fort Monroe Authority received a $195,000 grant from the Virginia Marine Resources Commission to do renovations. The authority kicked in another $80,000 toward the project.

Another project brewing to complement Hampton’s waterfront is a proposal to add a floating interlocking water park, called a Wibit off Buckroe Beach.

“There will no shortage of opportunities to get out on the water,” Parks and Recreation Director Kevin Myers said.

Aileen Devlin/Daily Press / Daily Press

A sailing club prepare to sail behind the new pier under construction along Mill Creek at Fort Monroe in Hampton on Thursday, April 5, 2018.

A sailing club prepare to sail behind the new pier under construction along Mill Creek at Fort Monroe in Hampton on Thursday, April 5, 2018. (Aileen Devlin/Daily Press / Daily Press)

The new Mill Creek pier will bring better safety for the youth from Kecoughtan, Phoebus and Hampton high schools and Hampton Roads Academy in Newport News, among other schools, who practice and compete in Mill Creek, Handly said.

When teams come out currently, Handly said, they have to load all their gear and then get on motor boats to head out to the floating dock, a few hundred feet away from the shoreline. If it’s extreme low tide, the students have to wade to the motor boats.

“You have to do everything on the water. It’s going to be more convenient,” Handly said. “It gives us access to the land. We will be able to host bigger groups and it will make life much easier.”